Tag Archives: weekends

On Saturday we headed to the gym, where I jumped on the treadmill to do a warm up and got a little carried away, managing a PB (since my recovery) of 5.5miles in 45minutes, which left me feeling very satisfied especially as I felt good throughout! We headed home, looking longingly at the pizza van that parks outside our gym at weekends (why!!?!) both with rumbling tummies and quickly tucked into a huge salad of mixed leaves, tomatoes, beetroot, sauerkraut and cucumber with a can of sardines on the top and some rye bread on the side…

It felt so good eating a big clean salad after a run, although later on I did get pretty hungry and snacked pretty much all afternoon (lesson learned!).

James’s family; Mum, Dad, 2 brothers, sister-in-laws and friends came over for afternoon tea (very civilised!!) his Mum and Dad arrived with much appreciated gifts in hand (thank you guys!!)

a gorgeous toast rack as a housewarming gift

and some of THE best eccles cakes from a local bakery, we all agreed none of us had ever had better!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day, involving the most amazing breakfast….

‘overeasy’ egg, cheese and jam wholemeal muffin…I have no words!!

plus lots of washing and ironing…

and some studying…

This morning we opted for an early morning workout. I am not known for my happiness or energy in the morning, and am often known to grumble no more words than “oh dear” before the hour of 8/9 o clock, so when James suggested heading to the gym for 7am I was understandably weary (!!) but when the alarm went off this morning I was feeling ok so jumped out of bed, pulled on my gym kit (which I’d put by the bed ‘just in case’) and headed out to the 7am Bodypump class.

I was again, a little anxious about working out so early in the morning on an empty stomach as I can sometimes find myself getting shaky half way through a workout, but was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the whole thing….for anyone who does Bodypump though; how much of a killer is that squat track!!!?

We both worked hard this morning so whilst James showered I whipped us up a chocolate, banana, green protein smoothie to encourage muscle recovery and to replenish our glycogen stores, followed by a repeat of yesterdays EPIC egg, cheese and jam (for me)/chipotle tabasco (for James) muffin which we both inhaled pretty quickly, stopping only for nods of appreciation…and to breathe :)!

My plan for the rest of the day is UNI ASSIGNMENTS…I have 2 big deadlines approaching at an alarming rate and I really need to get my head down and do them :(! and going to friends later this evening for dinner and to watch Broadchuch (a great ‘who did it’ TV series on in the UK at the moment)!!

Question; do you prefer to workout early in the morning or later in the day?

I thought I’d start the week off with a few pictures I managed to snap and a little summary of my weekend. I had Saturday off work this week which was nice. Although I did get in a great workout…I felt like the day was a bit of a flop, I started with great intentions including plans of getting some (lots) of house work done as well finishing 2 of the assignments I’m part way through.

I didn’t manage to achieve any of these things though :(, spending the morning watching Saturday morning cooking shows (until 11.30am!!) going to my boxing class at 12pm then running some errands at the retail park, I ended up spending a good few hours browsing the shops and by the time I got home I was feeling pretty tired. Somehow I managed to spend the rest of the day catching up on ‘Call the Midwife’…so all in all I didn’t really do anything productive and felt pretty fed up, annoyed with myself and guilty by bedtime!!

Sunday was slightly better, with a SUPER sweaty Step class early morning followed by work at Starbucks. I still didn’t manage to get any housework or studying done but at least I earned some money!!

Tomorrow however…is a brand new day! and a chance to get those things done (I hope!)

I did manage to have some lovely eats over the weekend…and take pictures (!!)…

Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday (yes it was that good!) – super creamy vanilla, cinamon, egg whipped oats with toasted pumpkin seeds and homemade peanut flax butter…yummy and really helped me power through both of my workouts.

p.s. recipe to follow tomorrow 🙂

Lunch on Sunday…this was one of best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time!! I’m not sure if it was because I was soo hungry after my Step class or it was just a great sandwich! -smoked ham, coleslaw, cheese…toasted – enough said!

A super easy dinner for when I finish work late like I did last night – pan seared salmon with crispy greens

I’ve also been dipping into my Nutribox for lots of snacks..I don’t think they’re going to last very long 🙂

Hopefully today I’ll manage check off lots more things on my ‘to do’ list!! I think I might head out this afternoon for a change of scenery in the hope of it encouraging me to focus on my assignments….maybe a nice coffee shop with good wifi!!

Questions; do you have problems focusing on work/studying/assignments if your deadline isn’t in the near future? have you got any techniques to help you focus?

I’ve got a busy day planned today…a Boxercise class at the gym this morning and then straight to work…Saturday’s in Starbuck are usually pretty hectic and involve lots of running up and down the stairs, carrying heavy trays and LOTS of cleaning!! so I figured I needed a breakfast that would stick with me and fuel me up for the day ahead!!

What could be more ideal that a bowl of oats….I’m spoilt for choice at the moment thanks to the lovely people at Dorset Cereals (I won’t say too much as I’m planning a review on Monday). After much deliberating, I opted for raspberry and pumpkin porridge, made with milk and an egg stirred in for some extra protein and fat = super satiating….

…for anyone thinking ‘urgh’ at the thought of adding en egg to porridge, I can whole heartedly promise you it isn’t noticeable at all 😉 it just gives the oats a slightly thicker texture (can you see in this picture??) that makes me think of ‘rib stickin’ goodness and the flavour isn’t changed at all! These oats were delicious and really filled me up. In fact they were so filling, I think if I’d got my ‘intuitive eating’ eating right I probably wouldn’t have finished the whole bowl!

I had these of course, with a perfect cup of coffee :D…it really would be rude not to!!

Last Saturday I went to Boxercise and I mentioned how much of a good workout it was….my upper body was sore until Tuesday! so I’m looking forward to working up a sweat and toning those shoulders and arms today.

I think the rest of my weekend will involve writing up lab reports and packing…we have set a date for moving house which will be the 27th March…not far away at all so I think I need to start packing soon!

Question: do you add eggs or anything else to your oats to give them more staying power? have you ever tried boxing classes as a workout?

I hope you had a lovely weekend! Mine was pretty busy, at the moment my weekends almost seem busier than my week days…juggling work, family, friends, my lovely boyfriend…all of them are in different area’s of the country at the moment which can be a little stressful at times!

I didn’t manage to get any workouts in this weekend due to work, uni assignments and travelling to see friends but that’s ok…I am learning to be OK with not working out everyday and finding its actually quite nice to being able to say ‘there’s always tomorrow’ and really meaning it!!

Uni this morning was great, we took our own blood (only tiny finger pricks!!) and tested our blood lipids, cholesterol and glucose…all very interesting stuff!!

This afternoon I went to the gym, thinking I was going to Body Combat…however….when the instructor started the class she informed us she’d decided to change it up a bit and do a ‘cardio tone’ class…to be honest I was a little miffed because that class is timetabled for another day and if I wanted to go to it I would go at that time!…today I wanted Body Combat! As it turned out it was a damn good workout; a mixture of toning tracks (mostly squats….darn things!!) alternating with interval training cardio tracks, by the end I had worked up a good sweat and was definitely feeling ‘the burn’!!

I have a deadline approaching for some lab reports which I MUST press on with (I seem to be procrastinating an awful lot!!), so for now I will leave you with some eats from the past few days….